Five per cent of Armed Forces deaths in last 25 years happened during training or on exercise

Five per cent of deaths in the UK's Armed Forces in the last 25 years have happened during training or on exercise, figures released by the MOD show.

Most were fully trained, but 10% (17) were untrained personnel in phase one or two of their training and, among those, five were under the age of 18.

Across the Armed Forces, 166 personnel have died while training or on exercise in the last quarter-century.

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Broken down further, the stats show 86% (143) of those who died were regular personnel and 14% (23) were reserves.

The figure continues to rise, with two further deaths since the last report in March.

The highest number of recorded deaths occurred across two different types of training.

Forty-one deaths were recorded while personnel were taking part in physical training, athletics or sport, and a further 41 deaths were recorded for air-related accidents. 

The report also shows that the Army has the highest death count at 111, the Royal Navy lost 29 personnel and the RAF 26.

The most deaths recorded were in 2001, when 16 UK Armed Forces personnel died while training or on exercise. 

The main cause of death in the Royal Navy was diving or snorkelling incidents, with eight personnel losing their lives.

Of the 166 personnel who died, 122 deaths were due to an injury, 31 were disease-related, and the cause of death was unknown in 13 cases.

The report covers the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 August 2025.